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Last updateFri, 19 Jun 2015 5pm
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Chapala Harp Festival draws biggest ever audience

The 13th Encuentro de Arpas, Salterios y Más, taking place Wednesday, June 10 on the grounds of Chapala’s Centro Cultural Gonzalez Gallo, attracted its biggest audience ever for a musical marathon that rocked on non-stop for more than eight hours.

Returning to the event after a three-year absence, the father-son Dueto Los Centenarios  delighted the crowd with their repertoire of traditional ranchero songs. Gustavo Sanchez Bautista  (above) and dad Gustavo Sr. are noted as founders and hosts of the very first harp players confab, held at their home in San Miguel Cuyutlan, near Tlajomulco.

‘They say harpists spend half of their time tuning their instruments and the other half playing out of tune,’ quipped Pancho Gómez (above), leader of Mariachi Tradicional El Tequileño, during the group’s performance at the harp festival. Gomez and his troupe closed their set with a rousing rendition of the mariachi classic “Guadalajara” that brought down the house. In addition to regular appearances at the Chapala harp fest and Guadalajara’s Traditonal Mariachi Festival, El Tequileño frequently tours Europe to introduce audiences to old-style Jalisco sones.